BLBG: Euro Drops to One-Year Low as S&P Cuts Spain’s Debt Rating
By Ben Levisohn
April 28 (Bloomberg) -- The euro dropped to a one-year low against the dollar as Standard & Poor’s cut the debt rating of Spain in a sign the deficit crisis is spreading.
“There’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty at the moment,” said Sebastien Galy, a currency strategist at BNP Paribas SA in New York. “The euro should break below $1.30.”
European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet said at a press conference the stability of the “euro zone is impacted” by the crisis and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters the nation accepts its responsibility to support the euro.
The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.3146 at 11:41 a.m. in New York, from $1.3175 yesterday, after touching $1.3129, the lowest level since April 2009. The euro advanced 0.5 percent to 123.48 yen, from 122.88. The dollar appreciated 0.8 percent to 94.02 yen, from 93.26.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told German lawmakers Greece may need as much as 120 billion euros ($158 billion), Green Party spokesman Michael Schroeren said today.
That’s almost three times the 45 billion euro value of the aid package initially proposed. Germany may be able to make a final decision on aid for Greece as soon as May 7, when the upper house of parliament mamy approve a support package, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.
Spain’s credit rating was cut to AA from AA+ by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. The outlook is negative, S&P said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Levisohn in New York at blevisohn@bloomberg.net